Friend recalls moments before, after teen’s minibike death

A man who was part of the group of minibikers riding on an east-side trail with Las Vegas teen Angel Naranjo when Naranjo fatally struck a steel cable said he also thinks the cable was placed there intentionally.

Isaac Flores, 25, who lives down the street from the Naranjo family, said he ran over the cable before anyone else in the group. He said that because the trail was pitch black, he didn’t see the cable or even notice he had driven over it.

But then he heard a commotion involving Angel Naranjo, 16, and Arley Naranjo, 19, who were behind him. It was just after midnight on July 3o. When Flores turned around, he said, he saw both on the pavement on the trail, which runs parallel to the Las Vegas Wash near Lake Mead Boulevard and Pecos Road, and the cable on the ground.

“It was just perfect across, from one side to the other,” Flores said. “It looked like it was intentionally (put there).”

Angel Naranjo’s family and friends have strongly disputed what the Metropolitan Police Department said Monday, that the cable was lying slack on the ground. When Angel Naranjo drove across it, police said, it flew up and hit him in the neck. Metro then released another statement Tuesday that only said police were still investigating and talking to witnesses.

Flores said he doesn’t know for sure what happened and said there are different possibilities. He said that it’s possible the cable had been on the ground and that it flew up when Angel Naranjo’s or Arley Naranjo’s bike hit it.

He also said it was also possible that the cable was lower to the ground by the light post on the east side of the trail and elevated off the ground closer to the fence. This would explain why he was able to ride over it, while the Naranjo brothers ran into it.

His point is: He doesn’t know how the cable was situated when Angel Naranjo drove into it, or over it. But he does believe somebody put the cable there.

“We passed through it perfectly fine, there was no cable, nobody got harmed,” Flores said of the group’s trek to Craig Regional Ranch Park in North Las Vegas earlier that night. “On the way back from the park, I was already ahead, and that’s when Arley and Angel came in and struck the cable.”

‘A malicious act’

Meanwhile, Angel Naranjo’s father, Rudolfo Naranjo, 41, said Thursday that he firmly believes, as does Arley Naranjo, the cable was placed there intentionally, and that it was tied across the path.

“It was a malicious act of somebody purposefully doing that to cause harm, or inflict bodily damage on another person,” he said. “That’s how it was done.”

He also expressed concerns about the state of the path, which is littered with trash. The cable appears to have come from the fence that lines the path. At another section of the path closer to the intersection on Monday, another piece of loose steel cable lying was strewn on the ground.

And Rudolfo Naranjo said the light post that he believes the cable was tied to was out, leaving the path pitch black.

Asked if the county had any plans to clean up the trail, or if the county bears any responsibility for the cable, which appears to have been part of the fencing that lines the west side of the path, Clark County spokesperson Erik Pappa said, “I have no additional comment at this time.”

Meanwhile, Rudolfo Naranjo said the public is still welcome at the funeral for Angel Naranjo this Friday and Saturday at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery at 1325 North Main St. in Las Vegas. He described it as a two-day funeral, with the visitation set for Friday from 4 until 9 p.m. and the burial at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.